


Christmas Without Snow

by Eyrmia



Series: The Most Wonderful of Times [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, Gift Giving, Gifts, Holidays, Male-Female Friendship, No Romance, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-20
Updated: 2016-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-15 03:59:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5770429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eyrmia/pseuds/Eyrmia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christmastime is rolling around, and Liz begins to reminisce about her past. Nick joins in, but manages to find the perfect gift for his homesick companion in the meantime.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Christmas Without Snow

**Author's Note:**

> On my game, I made plans to visit Diamond City for Christmas, but then I ended up missing it by about three weeks (I was actually close to Sanctuary when it happened). I decided to write this fic because who else to reminisce your past with but Nick Valentine?
> 
> Seriously, Nicky is the best because he's the only one besides you who remembers.

“I miss snow.”

Barely a whisper, but Nick still heard it. Quickening his pace to match Liz’s, he cast her a sympathetic look.

“Why now?” he asked, though he knew the answer as soon as the words left his mouth. They’d departed from Diamond City the morning before, and a couple residents had already been decorating their houses and stores with festive lights.

“My family and I…Our Christmases were…The music was the best part. _Sleigh Ride_ …that was my favorite.” She sighed, a wistful sound that even gave Nick nostalgic pangs in his chest.

“At least we’ll be in Sanctuary for the holidays,” he said, putting his flesh hand on her shoulder.

They made it to Sanctuary with little conflict, other than a small gang of raiders and a swarm of bloatflies. It was about one when they arrived, and Liz immediately left for her shack. Nick, on the other hand, headed to her old house.

The settlers had cleared out all the other houses, but Liz’s looked to be untouched. Rummaging through the dresser proved to be fruitless, so he tried the television cabinet. It was there that he found a stash of old holotapes. Most of them were too damaged to be of any use, but there were three still in good shape. _Carol of the Bells_ , _Frosty the Snowman_ , and _Sleigh Ride_. Nick smiled as he put the tapes in a cardboard box and sealed it with duct tape.

It was four by the time he left the old house and quietly entered Liz’s shack. She was asleep on her bed, and Dogmeat lay on an old mattress beside it. His eyes were open, focused on Nick as he sat down on the old, yellow couch. The box rested safely in his lap. He sat like that, motionless, for four hours. Liz always woke up around eight.

She began to stir, bringing her fists up to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

“Hey, Nick,” she murmured, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. “What’s in the box?” Her voice was scratchy and gruff, but her eyes were beginning to brighten.

“I got you a gift,” he said. Liz moved over to the couch, and Nick gently set the box on her lap.

“I wonder what’s inside?” she teased, tilting her head. Taking a pair of scissors from her pocket, she sliced open the duct tape and carefully opened the box. “Holotapes?” She sounded confused, but her face went slack when she read the name of the first tape.

“Nick…” She turned to him, eyes shining with tears. “I don’t know what to say. Where did you find these?”

“To be honest, I found them in your old house.” He grinned sheepishly. “I know you don’t like to go in there, and I wondered if the tapes might still be there. I hope it’s alright that I…recycled.”

“No, no! It’s fine!” She pulled him into a hug, and after a moment’s hesitation, he returned the gesture. Liz was sniffling as she pulled away, hurriedly wiping tears from her eyes as she pulled the _Sleigh Ride_ tape out of the box and inserted it into her Pip-Boy. A few seconds delay, then:

 _“Let’s go for a sleigh ride!_ _  
_ _A wonderful sleigh ride!”_

She started humming along to the tune, even going so far as to move her body with the beat. Nick couldn’t help but join in, though he decided not to burden Liz with his singing.

An hour passed, just the two of them listening to the tapes and dancing along. Eventually, Liz found some old whiskey. Nick didn’t have any, of course, but the mere suggestion brought memories flooding to him. Normally, he pushed away the memories of the old Nick, but this time, he let them stay.

Finally, Liz decided it was time to head out.

“Preston wants us to head up to Outpost Zimonja. Their food situation isn’t so great, so he asked us to bring them some mutfruit seeds. After that, we’ve got to go down to the Railroad and pick up an assignment from Dr. Carrington.”

Nick nodded and got to his feet, wordlessly storing the empty whiskey bottle in a drawer for later, and moving the cardboard box to a safe place under Liz’s bed. When he turned around, she’d just clipped on the last piece of her armor, and was fastening her helmet around her head.

“Let’s go,” she said, grabbing her sniper rifle as she passed through the doorway. The ghost of a smile flitted across his lips as he gladly followed her into the sunlight.


End file.
